Superpowers Flashcards
When was the Yalta Conference?
February 1945
What promises were made at Yalta?
1) After Germany was defeated, they would be reduced in size, divided and demilitarised, along with paying reparations.
2) Europe would be rebuilt along the lines of the Atlantic Charter. Countries would have democratic elections.
3) The UN (United Nations) would be set up.
4) The Soviet Union would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated.
5) Poland would be in the ‘Social sphere of influence’ but run on a broader democratic basis.
When was the Potsdam Conference?
July-August 1945
What promises were made at Potsdam?
1) A Council of Foreign Ministers was set up to organise the rebuilding of Europe.
2) The Nazi Party was blamed and war criminals were to be prosecuted.
3) Germany was to be reduced in size and divided into four zones of occupation run by Britain, France, the USA and Soviet Union.
4) Berlin was also to be divided up into zones of occupation.
5) The Soviet Union was to receive 25% of the output from the other three occupied zones.
When was the Tehran Conference?
November-December 1943
What were promises made at Tehran?
1) The USA and Britain agreed to open up a second front by invading Nazi-occupied Europe.
2) The Soviet Union would declare war on Japan Germany was defeated.
3) The boundaries of Poland would be moved westwards; Poland would gain territory from Germany and lose it to the Soviet Union.
4) An international body would be set up to settle future disputes between countries. This set the scene for the establishment of the United Nations.
What were the outcomes of the Conferences?
1) Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union were able to work together to defeat Germany, who had surrendered in May 1945.
2) Tensions increased between the wartime allies.
3) Differences began to emerge over the future of Germany and Eastern Europe.
4) Roosevelt’s death had led to Truman becoming president.
How did the Grand Alliance end?
1) The USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945. This gave them a huge military advantage over other countries.
2) Roosevelt was prepared to work with Stalin but he died in April 1945 and was replaced by Truman. Truman trusted Stalin much less, as he had broken the promises he made over Poland at Yalta. He felt that, thanks to the atomic bomb, he could push Stalin around at the Potsdam Conference.
3) Stalin disliked the way in which Truman had tried to push him around at Potsdam in 1945.
4) This increased tension between superpowers and was the start of the cold war.
5) Britain had finished on the winning side in 1945 but was economically exhausted by the war. It was therefore unable to stand up to the Soviet Union on its own and became only an ally of the United States. The Cold War therefore became increasingly about the relationship between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.
What was the main reason for the tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union?
Ideological differences.
What did the USA believe about communism?
They said communism enslaved people to the state.
What did the Soviet Union believe about capitalism?
They said capitalism exploited the workers to make the rich even richer.
What did the USA believe about capitalism?
Capitalism was based on freedom and democracy.
What did the Soviet Union believe about communism?
Communism was based on fairness.
Define Ideology.
A set of political ideas about how society should be run .
Name three beliefs the USA had.
1) Everyone should be free to make money for themselves.
2) Individuals are better at deciding what to make/sell than the state.
3) Trade between countries makes everyone richer.
Name three beliefs the Soviet Union had.
1) Capitalism only makes some people rich by exploiting everyone else.
2) Individuals are not as strong as everyone working together for thee same aim.
3) The state should take control of the economy and run it to benefit everyone.
What was the Long Telegram?
It was a secret report from the US ambassador Kennan in Moscow to President Truman that said: the Soviet Union saw capitalism as a threat to communism that had to be destroyed, the Soviet Union was building its military power, peace between a communist Soviet Union and a capitalist USA was not possible.
What was addressed in Novik’s Telegram?
1) The USA wanted world domination and was building up its military strength.
2) The Soviet Union was the only country left after the war that could stand up to the USA.
3) The USA was preparing its people for war with the Soviet Union.
Why did the relations between the superpowers deteriorate?
Ideological differences and the atomic bomb had made relations between the superpowers worse. The USA saw the Soviet Union as a threat to its economic interests in Europe. The Soviet Union feared and resented the USA’s nuclear monopoly, which did not end until 1949.
What happened between 1947 and 1949?
The Soviet Union had spread its sphere of influence to neighbouring countries like Poland and Hungary, they were later known as ‘satellite states’, as they were under the control of the Soviet Union.
Name three impacts of the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe on superpower relations?
1) The USA saw the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe as a betrayal of the Yalta agreement, in which Stalin had made promises about holding elections.
2) Others saw it as evidence of Soviet expansion: Eastern Europe was a stepping-stone to a Soviet takeover of Western Europe.
3) The USA was determined to contain communism through military and economic assistance: the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid.
4) The Soviet Union argued it needed to control Eastern Europe as a buffer zone, protecting it from the West.
What were two of Truman’s concerns?
1) Europe was devastated after the war.
2) In many countries people had no money, no jobs and were feeling hopeless.
3) Communism was attractive to these people, especially in France and Italy: it made sure everyone had enough.
4) Many in Eastern Europe had been liberated from Nazi rule by the Soviets.
5) Countries like Poland, Romania and Bulgaria had already had communist governments forced on them and Truman feared this could happen in other countries too.
6) Some governments were too poor to combat communist revolutions in their own countries.
7) If Greece and Turkey became communist, then other countries across Europe and the Middle East would follow. This was known as the Domino Theory.
What was the Truman Doctrine?
The Truman Doctrine was a speech, in which President Truman set out why the USA should get involved.
What were some reasons the USA should get involved?
1) Countries faced a choice between either capitalism or communism.
2) Communism was bad because it meant that people could not be free.
3) The USA must try to contain this spread of communism.
4) The USA should provide money and troops (if necessary) to help free governments to combat communist takeovers.
What was the aim of the Truman Doctrine?
The Truman Doctrine was all about stopping the spread of communism. The USA was prepared to use both military and economic methods to prevent this from happening.
What was the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe.
What were features of the Marshall Plan?
1) $13 billion from USA to help rebuild Europe.
2) Communism appealed most to people with nothing to lose, so the Marshall Plan hoped to stop communism by giving people a stake in the capitalist system.
3) Countries must trade with the USA to get the money.
4) Sixteen Western European countries took the money including Britain, France and West Germany.
5) The Soviet Union criticised the Marshall Plan as an attack on them because it threatened communist control in Eastern Europe.
